Sidney Sheldon - The sky is falling

«Er—yes. I would like to try on a blond wig.»

«This way, please.»

A minute later Dana was looking at her blond image in the mirror.

«It's amazing how much it changes your appearance.»

I hope so.

Outside the store, Dana flagged down a taxi. «O'Hare airport.»I must get to Kemal.

When the telephone rang, Rachel picked it up. «Hello…Dr. Young?…The final results of the test?»

Jeff saw the sudden tension in her face.

«You can tell me over the phone. Just a minute.» Rachel looked at Jeff, took a deep breath, and took the phone into the bedroom.

He could hear her voice, faintly.

«Go ahead, Doctor.»

There was a silence that lasted a full three minutes, and as Jeff, concerned, was about to go into the bedroom, Rachel came out, and she had a glow on her face that he had never seen before.

«It worked!» She was almost breathless with excitement. «Jeff, I'm in remission. The new therapy worked!»

Jeff said, «Thank God! That's wonderful, Rachel.»

«He wants me to stay here for another few weeks, but the crisis is over.» Her voice was filled with elation.

«We'll go out and celebrate,» Jeff said. «I'll stay with you until—»

«No.»

«No, what?»

«I don't need you anymore, Jeff.»

«I know, and I'm glad we—»

«You don't understand. I want you to leave.»

He looked at Rachel, surprised. «Why?»

«Dear, sweet Jeff. I don't want to hurt your feelings, but now that I'm in remission, it means I can go back to work. It's my life. It's what I am. I'm going to call and see what jobs are available. I've felt trapped here with you. Thanks for helping me, Jeff. I really do appreciate it. But it's time to say good-bye. I'm sure Dana misses you. So please, why don't you just leave, darling?»

Jeff looked at her a moment and nodded. «Right.»

Rachel watched him go into the bedroom and start to pack. Twenty minutes later, when Jeff came out with his suitcase, Rachel was on the phone.

«…and I've come back to the real world, Betty. I'll be able to go back to work in a few weeks…I know. Isn't it wonderful?»

Jeff was standing there, waiting to say good-bye. Rachel waved to him and turned back to the telephone. «I'll tell you what I want…get me a shoot on a nice tropical…»

Rachel watched Jeff walk out the door. Slowly, she let the phone drop. She walked over to the window and stood there, watching the only man she had ever loved walk out of her life.

Dr. Young's words were still ringing in her ears. «Miss Stevens, I'm sorry, but I have bad news. The treatment didn't work…The cancer has metastasized…It has spread too far. I'm afraid that it's terminal…maybe another month or two…»

Rachel remembered the Hollywood director Roderick Marshall saying to her, «I'm glad you came. I'm going to make you a big star.» And as the excruciating red river of pain began to wrack Rachel's body again, she thought:Roderick Marshall would have been proud of me.

When Dana's plane landed, Washington's Dulles airport was crowded with passengers waiting for their luggage. Dana walked past the carousels out into the street and climbed into one of the waiting taxis. There were no suspicious-looking men around, but her nerves were screaming. Dana took out her purse and looked in the small mirror for reassurance. Her blond wig did give her a completely different look. It will have to do for now, Dana thought. I've got to get to Kemal.

Kemal opened his eyes slowly, awakened by the sounds of voices coming through the closed study door. He felt groggy.

«The boy's still asleep,» he heard Mrs. Daley say. «I drugged him.»

A man replied, «We'll have to wake him up.»

A second man's voice said, «Maybe it would be better if we carried him there while he's asleep.»

«You could do it to him here,» Mrs. Daley said. «And then get rid of his body.»

Kemal was suddenly wide awake.

«We have to keep him alive for a while. They're going to use him as bait to catch the Evans woman.»

Kemal sat up, listening, his heart pounding.

«Where is she?»

«We're not sure. But we know she'll be coming here for the kid.»

Kemal jumped out of bed. He stood there for a moment, rigid with fear. The woman he had trusted wanted to kill him. Pizda! It won't be that easy, Kemal swore to himself. They couldn't kill me in Sarajevo. They're not going to kill me here. He began frantically throwing on his clothes. When he reached for his artificial arm on the chair, it slipped out of his hand and fell to the floor with what sounded to Kemal like a thunderous crash. He froze. The men outside were still talking. They had not heard it. Kemal attached his arm and finished dressing quickly.

He opened the window and was hit by a blast of frigid air. His overcoat was in the other room. Kemal moved out onto the window ledge in his thin jacket, his teeth chattering. There was a fire escape leading to the ground, and he climbed onto it, careful to duck out of sight of the living-room window.

As Kemal reached the ground, he looked at his watch. It was 2:45. Somehow he had slept half the day away. He began to run.

«Let's tie the kid down, just in case.»

One of the men opened the study door and looked around the room in surprise. «Hey, he's gone!»

The two men and Mrs. Daley rushed to the open window in time to see Kemal racing down the street.

«Get him!»

Kemal ran as if in a nightmare; his legs growing weaker and more rubbery with every step. Each breath was a knife in his chest. If I can get to the school before they close the gates at three o'clock, he thought, I'll be safe. They won't dare hurt me with all the other kids around.

There was a red traffic light ahead. Kemal ignored it and darted across the avenue, dodging cars, oblivious to the outraged sounds of automobile horns and screaming brakes. He reached the other side of the street and kept running.

Miss Kelly will call the police, and they'll protect Dana.

Kemal was beginning to get short of breath and he felt a tightness in his chest. He glanced at his watch again: 2:55. He looked up. The school was just ahead. Two more blocks to go.

I'm safe, Kemal thought. They haven't dismissed classes yet. A minute later he reached the front gate. He stopped in front of it and stared at it, unbelievingly. It was locked. Suddenly, from behind, Kemal felt an iron grip on his shoulder.

«It's Saturday, stupid.»

«Stop here,» Dana said. The taxi was two blocks from her apartment. Dana watched the cab drive away. She walked slowly, her body tense, every sense alert, scanning the streets, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She was sure that Kemal was safe. Jack Stone would be protecting him.

When Dana reached the apartment-house corner, she avoided the front entrance and stepped into the alley that led to the back of the building. It was deserted. Dana went inside the service door and quietly walked up the stairs. She reached the second floor and started down the hall and suddenly stopped. The door to her apartment was wide open. Dana was instantly flooded with fear. She ran toward the door and raced inside. «Kemal!»

No one was there. Dana dashed through the apartment, frantic, wondering what could have happened. Where was Jack Stone? Where was Kemal? In the kitchen, a cabinet drawer had fallen to the floor and its contents had spilled out. There were dozens of small packets, some full, some empty. Curious, Dana picked one up and looked at it. The label said, BuSpar 15 mg tablets marked NDC D087 D822-32.

What were they? Was Mrs. Daley on drugs, or had she been giving these to Kemal? Could it have anything to do with the change in his behavior? Dana put one of the packets in her coat pocket.

Filled with dread, Dana slipped out of the apartment. She went out the back way, into the alley, and headed for the street. As Dana turned the corner, a man hidden behind a tree spoke into a walkie-talkie to his confederate standing on the opposite corner.